Miller T. - Making Sense of Motherhood[c] A Narrative Approach (2005)(en)

age 46

agency 14, 57, 72, 78, 81, 141; and material and structural circumstances 18

and world of work 77

embodied dimensions of agency 14 individual experience 57

lone mothers 117

universal notions of agency 20 antenatal period 50, 51, 58, 66, 78, 80

and normative practices 58

antenatal attendance and Bangladeshi women 37, 38

antenatal care 68, 74 antenatal narratives 97 antenatal practices 51, 59, 60

antenatal/ prenatal preparation 30, 31, 68

‘appropriate’ service use 68 experts 94

health care team 71 information 70 monitoring progress 72, 74

take up of antenatal services 37, 38 ultrasound scan 69, 78

authoritative knowledge 13, 29, 41, 42, 49, 51, 52, 58, 73, 80, 87, 114

and constructions of expert knowledge 31, 34, 42, 74, 78, 115, 136

and technology 73, 151

consensual models 43, 44, 149, 151, 152

cultural authority 38

dominant forms of authoritative knowledge 28, 140

experts 31, 139

health and medical professionals 40 hierarchical forms 29, 40, 42, 150 horizontal forms 29, 34, 40

in Bangladesh 32, 34

Bangladesh 16, 30, 153

authoritative knowledge and practices in

Bangladesh 32, 34,

bustees – slum areas in Bangladesh 27 Children’s Nutrition Unit 34

dai 33

Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh 7, 27 maternal mortality 33, 153 patriarchal society 32, 153 pollution and evil spirits 34 population 32

‘purdah’ 33

reproductive behaviours and practices 28

traditional birth attendants 33

caste 151 childbirth 10

and concept of ‘pollution’ 27, 32, 33, 40 and expert practices 66, 70

and menstruation 32, 40, 81 anticipating the birth 61, 75 as natural process 95

birth experiences 61, 90 caesarean 53, 95, 97 control 93

cultural patterning of pregnancy and childbirth 32, 34, 44, 93

dais and dhorunis in Bangladesh 27 deference to medical knowledge 68, 93 hospital birth 41, 50, 53, 58, 69, 77, 87 increased use of technology 51, 52 induction 94, 95

maternity kits 34 maternal mortality 50 medical view 73 monitoring 94

pain relief 75, 76, 77, 78, 93 perinatal mortality 50 preparation for 38

‘purdah’ 33

risk and safety 51, 75, 87, 94, 95 screening 52,

smell and mess 41 childless women 58, 86 childrearing 97 counselling 17

cultures 37

cultural authority 38, 70 cultural boundaries 44

cultural contours of motherhood 86, 144, 154

cultural ‘props’ 146

cultural reference points 45, 62, 86 ‘cultural space’ 40

cultural traditions and religious beliefs 37, 45

cultural scripts 8, 11, 27, 28, 39, 40, 45, 56, 62, 121, 142, 147, 149

and cultural practices 15, 45, 85 and constructions of women’s bodies

30, 33

and globalised world 44 and narratives 42, 56

culturally acceptable narratives 23, 132, 134

cultural authority 30, 40, 86 dominant in Bangladesh 28 dynamic 32

patterning of pregnancy and childbirth 32 scripts in the West 139

Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale 60, 102

essentialism 7, 11, 87, 116, 129, 143, 144, 144, 160

and essentialist expectations 15, 112 essentialist assumptions 73, 105,

138, 139

essentialist constructions of motherhood 108, 110

fathers 63

feeding intentions 71 feminisms 7, 53, 62, 138, 148

and contested terrain of mothering and motherhood 7, 30, 46, 53, 56, 63, 153

conservative and pro-family 56 cultural feminism 56

feminist research 7, 64 radical feminists 53

women’s lives in contemporary society 7 frames of reference 72

competing constructions of normal development 114

competing time-frames 90, 103 different frames of reference 73, 75, 99,

110, 131

gender 7, 150

and childrearing 85

Index 173

and caring responsibilities 85, 142, 148 assumptions around caring 84, 85 authority and power 43

and constructions of motherhood 116 and embodied nature of identity 12 and inequalities 151

gender fates 48, 139 gendered knowledge claims 53

‘gendered moral rationalities’ 118, 121 gendered practices 14, 110

globalisation 43, 151, 154

and the developing world 55, 152 and relevance of cultural scripts 44 maternal and child mortality 151 progress 151

reproductive rights 152 technology 43, 139

health visitor 60, 70, 71, 99, 114 and home visits 99

ideologies 47

and ‘good’ mothering 57, 59 and motherhood 54

dominant ideologies 69, 102, 131 ideal types of mother/worker 118 intensive mothering 85, 109, 116, 118,

119, 120, 148 pro-family 56 pro-natalist 54

knowledge claims 7, 27

and structural and material inequalities 7, 13

biological determinism 15 biomedical knowledge 43 culturally inscribed knowledge 37,

45, 46

expert knowledge 6, 47, 48, 67 gendered knowledge claims 53 hierarchies of expert knowledge 95 lay knowledge 43

medical knowledge 40 professional practices 13

public knowledges and private lives 25, scientific and medical discourses 17

language 39

language difficulties 39 late modernity 25, 46, 47

and constructions of motherhood 89 and experts 59, 62, 74

and individualisation 46, 48, 57, 81, 108, 141, 151

and rapid transformations 17

174 Index

late modernity (cont.)

and reproduction, childbirth and motherhood 48

and social change 63, 67

and the modernist subject 154 and trust 61

changing familial arrangements 108 features of late modernity 47, 66,

113, 136 heightened reflexivity 139

increased reflexivity 87, 136 modernist subjects 127 reorganisation of time and space 49 risk 30, 47, 48, 106, 112, 113,

116, 136

self-governance 89, 113, 141, 142 self-surveillance 59, 86, 87, 124 themes of late modernity 46 transformations in 64

Medicaid 58

medicalisation 29, 30, 46, 49, 52, 78, 87, 149, 150, 154

and screening 52

and trust in experts 48 expert management 49 medicalised mode of birth 27 technology 74

midwife 52, 70, 71, 72, 74, 99, 159 moral context 69, 78, 86, 137, 138, 140,

143, 146, 159 moral discourses 110 moral identities 64 ‘moral minefield’ 121 moral person 47 moral problems 81

screening and moral issues 52 motherhood 6, 25, 26

and biographical narratives 46 and differences 57

and different cultural practices 45 and expectations 46

and reflexivity 139

anticipating motherhood 68, 85 becoming a mother 6, 9 conceptualisations of children’s

needs 149

constructions of motherhood 83, 84, 86, 108, 116, 120, 144

early experiences of motherhood 9, 13, 15, 17

first-time motherhood 23 getting back to ‘normal’ 15 in Western societies 46 institution of motherhood 68

journeys into motherhood 67 performing motherhood 106 responsible motherhood 48 self-monitoring 49

the irony of motherhood 139 the moral context 6, 14 theorising motherhood 7, 23, 56

transition to motherhood 8, 9, 15, 25, 42, 49

women’s experiences 7 women and their bodies 7

mothering achievement 125 and control 112

and coping 90, 98, 121, 143 and identity 80

and postnatal depression 98 and responsibilities 6

as biologically determined 46, 55, 64 as instinctive 55, 73, 86, 138, 149, 150 at home 97

becoming a mother 62 becoming the expert 113 essentialist constructions 56 full-time mothering 84

good enough mothering 127, 136 ‘good’ mother 55, 75, 77, 79, 84, 86, 106, 116, 123, 124, 127,

128, 142

intensive mothering 85, 109, 116, 118, 119, 120, 148

mothering in the public sphere 107 mothering career 104, 112 mothering skills 160

mothering voice 110 mothering work 104, 119 normal responses to 61

pre-reflexive maternal feelings 145 teenage mothers 6

myths and motherhood, 26, 63, 70, 102, 111, 112, 138, 146, 147, 160

and conspiracy of silence 156 limited repertoire of birth and mothering stories 90

Narrative 8, 9, 10, 11, 19, 20, 22, 27, 28, 46, 68, 83, 89, 105, 110, 116, 131, 138, 142

and making sense 23, 60 and philosophical debates 9

and the modernist subject 154 anticipatory narratives 70, 73, 76, 78,

86, 87, 97

biographical disruption 10, 19 biographical narratives 64

construction and reconstruction 9, 40, 67, 75, 77, 79, 81, 119, 123, 127, 131, 142, 143

‘counter-narratives’ 23, 68, 127, 147, 159 culturally acceptable narratives 23, 97 discontinuity of a narrative 10

early postnatal narratives 90, 110 late postnatal narratives 118 meta narratives 8, 11, 56

multi-layered narratives 25, 68, 96, 129 narrating chaos 133

narrative analysis 21

narrative approach 6, 11, 18, 21, 155, 158

narrative devices 101

narrative intention and accountability 9, 10

narrative lapse and bafflement 9, 19 narrative methodologies 18, 20 narrative struggles 89, 99, 121 narrative trajectories 8, 25, 67 narrative turning point 90, 102, 104,

110

narrative unity and coherence 9, 13, 49, 87, 97, 106, 128, 131

narratives and resistance 96 new narrative opportunities 143

ontological security 16, 17, 47, 61 ontological self-narratives 8, 16, 18, 61 ontological shift 145

personal narrative 123, 129

plot and emplotment 9, 19, 96, 147 storytelling 10

temporal ordering 101, 121, 124, 131 National Health Service 58, 68, 71 New Deal 55

normative practices 58

obstetrician 52

parentcraft classes 38, 70, 78 parenting 9

patriarchy 30, 36, 50, 53, 153 postnatal depression 98, 106, 133, 146 postnatal period 59, 71

a return to normal 60 coping and risk 100

early postnatal period 67, 73, 99, 100 home visits in 71

late postnatal period 67 postnatal care 30

pregnancy 30

and control 77; and expert management and supervision 30; changing physical shape 80; eventful

Index 175

pregnancy 27; monitoring of 72, 87; planned pregnancy 80; personal transition 80

private sphere 90, 98

public sphere 80, 90, 98, 106, 126, 146 giving a convincing performance 107 mothering in the public sphere

107, 146

‘race’ 17, 46

reflexivity 10, 16, 16, 47, 66, 86, 106, 136, 138, 139, 154

and modernist subject 156, 157 and sense of self 16, 81

and structural conditions 17

as intrinsic aspect of human action 47, 106

critique of theories of reflexivity 140, 141, 142, 144

gendered and embodied dimensions 17, 106

heightened reflexivity 139 pre-reflexive maternal feelings 145 reflexive difficulties 105

reflexive project of self 47 self-reflexivity 16, 64, 137, 139 techniques of resistance 110

theories of reflexivity 67, 137, 139, 141 relativism 20

reproduction 10

and control over women’s bodies 50 and motherhood in late modern

societies 31, 48, 154 expert management 50 normative practices 50 technologies 43

research process 21, 156, 158 analysing narratives 21

appraisal and assessment tools 22 empirical data 154, 158

end-of-study questionnaire 23, 67, 97, 128, 135, 156, 157, 158, 159

epistemological positions 22 ethical considerations 159 feminist research 7

fieldwork observations 23, 138 gatekeepers 24

interview as co-production 21 interview schedules 24

interview setting 21, 68, 155, 156 longitudinal research 22, 145, 158 methodological issues 139 modernist subjects 127, 155 multi-layered narratives 25 relativism 159

176 Index

researcher reflexivity 21 snowballing 24

theory generation 20 ‘validity’ and ‘credibility’ 22

risk 48, 51, 113

and cultural constructions of 66, 113 and increased use of technology 51 and responsibilities 47, 72, 128

and trust in experts 48, 68 heightened perceptions of risk 30, 47,

48, 106, 112, 136, 150

selves 8, 11, 12, 120, 141 and bodies 143

and maternal bodies 82 anticipating motherhood 68

as competent social actor 106, 145 changing perceptions of self 68, 80, 82,

108, 123

debates on how selves are constituted and maintained 8, 11, 13, 90, 158

embodied selves 26, 160 facets of a self 144 gendered selves 138, 160

‘impression management’ 12 performative selves 13, 14, 145 personal transition 11

playing a part 108

pre-baby self 61, 84, 105, 109 presentation of self as mother 14, 15 recognisable selves 54, 61, 103 reflexive project of self 47

‘schemas of self-understanding’ 15, 110, 136

self as ‘good’ mother 24 self-surveillance 80, 112, 141, 142 situating the self 13, 16

social action 8, 24, 62, 108 social identity 8, 11, 54

social self as mother 15, 26, 103, 104, 120, 138, 145, 160

tenuous selves 110, 116, 154, 160 ‘true’ and ‘false’ selves 12

social class 17, 31, 46, 69, 150 social networks 106

changing familial arrangements 108 Solomon Islands 30, 34

betel nut 153 ethnic rivalries 36 hospital births 36

maternal and infant mortality 36 Munda 35

New Georgia 34 population 34

reproductive health problems 153 wontok system 35, 36

support:

patterns of family support 89

technobirth: in USA 51

therapy 17

research as therapeutic 136, 156 trust:

and perceptions of risk 68

in expert bodies of knowledge 44, 47

Western societies 6

and gendered childrearing practices 120 and notions of selfhood and personhood

151, 156

history of obstetrics in the West 140 mothering work undervalued in Western

societies 119, 138 work and employment 120

and a return to normal 83 anticipating a return to work 84 full-time mothering as work 84

paid work outside the home 108, 117, 135, 148

public sphere and work 84 working women 72